I AM A DEMOCRATIC PERSON

Citizenship Y2 ESO

Almudena Corrales Marbán

Social Studies Department

CITIZENS AND RESIDENTSThe residents of a state are people who live in the state.

• All residents have to obey the laws of the country.

• Residents can de divided into citizens and non-citizens.

The citizens of the state are people who have special rights and responsabilities in the state:

• They have a right to live in the sate, if they want to. However, they can also choose to live in a different state.

• They can have the right to vote.

• They can have a passport if the want one.

• If there is a war, they have a responsability to protect their state.

Non-citizens are residents who originally come from another state.

• Non citizens cannot vote.

• They do not have a duty to fight for the country in a war.

Often the majority of the citizens share the same language, beliefs and religion. However, in multicultural societies people from many different cultures are all citizens of the same state.

TERRITORYThe territory of a state is the area inside its borders.

• There are two main types of borders: land borders and maritime borders.

• A state’s land territory is controlled by its government and people have to obey the state’s laws within this territory.

• In the area of sea that a state controls, it has the right to fish and to extract monerals ans fossil fuels.

• States also have certain rights relating to the air space above them.

• Embassy building in other countries are also part of the state’s territory

Who decides where the borders go?

The borders of states change quite often. Sometimes new states are created, and old states dissapear. This is usually because of wars, but sometimes rulers buy and sell territory.

What are the patterns followed?

• Geographical: natural borders folllow geographical features like mountain ranges, rivers or the sea. These borders are easy to defend, so it is difficult for the states to conquer territory on the other side of the border.

• Cultural: borders often separate people who speak different languages or who have different customs, beliefs and religions.

• Artificial: borders that have been created for artificial reasons often go in straight lines. They are the result of an agreement between countries, for example after a war, or after a new territory is discovered. This way usually carries risk and trouble.

STATE INSTITUTIONSThe state institutions are responsible for the administration of a state. They include a government and a bureaucracy. The most important functions of these institutions are to provide security, to control the state’s borders and to establish laws.

But, do all the countries have a welfare system?

TERMINOLOGY

Welfare state/system: Estado del bienestar.

Bureaucracy: burocracia.

Civil servants: funcionarios (del Estado/comunidad autónoma).

• Richer countries normally provide more services to their citizens than poorer countries.

• States with higher taxes provide more services than states with lower taxes.

• The countries that provide most services to their citizens are called welfare states, because the state takes responsability for the basic welfare of the citizens. Welfare states are normally rich states with quite high taxes.

NOT ALL THE STATES

ARE THE SAME!!!

You now know some of the basic

characteristics of states, but there

are actually many different types of

state. We will look at what they are,

and at different ways of classifying

states!

DEMOCRACIES The word democracy comes from the Greek words demos

and kratos . Demos means people and kratos means

power, so a democracy is a state where the people

have the power. In Ancient Greece, all citizens went to the

main square to discuss important questions. However, most

modern states have millions of citizens, so that isn’t possible

these days.

Modern democracies are instead based on three main

principles:

• citizen participation

• the separation of powers

• the rule of law.

a) Citizens particpation:

In a democracy, the elections must be free and fair.

• Adult citizens must be allowed to vote (at the age of 18 onwards), whatever their sex, religion, race or social position.

• All adult citizens must be allowed to be candidates.

• All candidates must be free to say what they will do if they are elected, and the

media must be free also to report their ideas.

• There must be regular elections, so citizens can ghange their representatives. They are normally held every 4-5 years.

• The results must be fair.: all votes must be counted, and the rules must be the same for all of the candidates and political parties.

What is a referendum?

Sometimes sates hold a

referendum when they want to

make a very important decision.

In a referendum, all citizens vote

for or against a single question.

For example most states that

want to join the European Union

first hold a referendum.

b) Separation of powers

The three most important powers of the state are its

power to create new laws, to implement laws and to

judge people who are accused of breaking the law. Each

of these powers belongs to one branch of the state:

c) The rule of lawDemocracies are based on the rule of law. This means that:

• Everyone must obey the law, including powerful people.

• If a person or organisation is accused of breaking the law, they must be given a fair trial.

Translate this paragraph into Spanish.

Come on!! I am sure you will do it very well

DICTATORSHIPS AND OLIGARCHIES

In dictatorships and oligarchies, individuals or small groups of people control all the state institutions. This people often obtain power using violence, for example a coup.

In dictatorships and oligarquies:

• There is no real citizen participation at all.

• There is no separation of powers: the same people control the three branches.

• There is no rule of law: the rulers can break the law without being punished, and they can punish normal citizens without giving them a fair trial.

Some dictatorships and oligarchies have some of the institutions of a democracy. For example, they hold elections and they have a parliament. However they are not true democracies:

WHY?

• The elections are not free and fair. Sometimes not everyone can vote, and sometimes the results are maniulated

• The parliament is controlled by the rulers, and cannot make its own decisions.

States that pretend to be a democracy, but that are really dictatorships or ologarchies, are often called falso democracies. Most states in the world are either dictatoships, oligarchies or false democracies.

TERMINOLOGY

Dictatorship (or autocracy): Dictadura: a state ruled by an individual.

Oligarchy: Oligarquía: a state ruled by a small group of people.

Coup (or coup d’etat): Golpe de Estado : when a group of people suddenly take control of a state. If the militaries take control of the State it is called military coup